Changes
by SickleCells
Summary: Sakura is attacked by her friend for getting too close to Sasuke and while recovering she befriends members of Konoha's baddest gang : The Akatsuki. SakuxEveryone (Friendships and Romances)
1. A Betrayal

**I do not own Naruto. **

**I'm late at posting this. Did you expect anything more? Sorry. Please enjoy reading and leave a review telling me what you thought!**

**This was previously known as the Boys/Ones Who Loved Flowers but that's a mouth full so here's to CHANGES.**

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**Changes**

"Wonderful poem, Haruno. Now for your new project partner…" Jiraya's eyes scanned over his class list. "Uchiha will do. You'll be researching and completing a report on British Romanticism. Your outline will be due in two classes and the final will be due another four classes after that. Good luck."

Sakura shot Jiraya a polite smile and ducked her head down while walking back to her seat. Just as she was shoving her belongings into her bag the release bell for lunch rang. She hurried out the door and ignored Jiraya calling out to the class about remembering deadlines.

"Ino!" Sakura shouted, waving at her blonde friend who was placing a textbook into her locker. The sophomore ran to her friend but stopped a few feet away, she inclined her towards bright green badge standing out against Ino's deep purple blouse. "What's that for?"

Ino's blue eyes lit up with joy as she finished securing the lock. "Didn't you hear? We got some transfer students this morning and that _'worthless student ambassador position_' I applied for is paying off! I get to show them around school for the rest of the week! I'm going to be their go-to girl. Kind of annoying when I think about it but then on the other hand it's pretty empowering. They'll have to ask me for _anything_ they want because they don't know how Leaf works… And anyways I get community service hours for it, so it's a pretty solid deal."

"Community service? You're showing school students…around _your_ school… during school hours. What was Tsunade wearing when you got the news?"

"Sweats and yesterday's shirt, no doubt about it."

Sakura laughed, "That explains so much. She must have broken up with Jiraya-sensei again. That would explain why he paired me up with Sasuke-kun…He complains that I stare at him all class on some days, I was so surprised!"

Ino stopped in her tracks, "_You_ get to work with Sasuke for your English project! God, Forehead Girl, you steal everything away from me, don't you?"

"It's not my fault you decided to skip class!" She pulled on Ino's arm to continue on to the cafeteria. "Maybe if you actually show up next time you'll get someone good."

"Who did he give me anyways? Did you catch a name?"

Sakura stifled a laugh. "You're not gonna be happy about it…"

"Tell me, Billboard!"

"You got paired up with Shikamaru." Sakura chuckled as she sat down on the raggedy black plastic bench at her and Ino's favorite table. It was in the perfect position to hear what they're favorite group to gossip about was saying. She jumped as Ino threw her purse onto the table.

"Are you kidding me? You have to switch with me! _Please._"

"Tempting, but no. Are you kidding me? You might have liked Sasuke longer than me but that's just because you saw him first."

"Precisely why he should be my partner." She pulled out a bottle of some sugary coffee drink from her bag. "It'd be a fair trade."

The pink haired girl shook her head, " No, you should have been in class today. You getting put with your worst enemy is _fair_ for you missing class, the fourth time this month might I add. Jiraya-sensei knows women so I'm pretty sure he knows that you can't have your period four times in one month."

Ino inwardly growled. "Fine! Don't switch, but just so you know, I had a legitimate excuse this time. Ami and Maki needed to be shown around today-"

"AMI?" Sakura whisper-shrieked. "Ami with purple hair, a bad attitude, and a penchant for torturing me? That Ami?"

"Yeah… See I wasn't going to mention it…"

"You weren't going to mention it? She ruined elementary school for me! She's why Sasuke thinks I'm some obsessive freak! Did you know we were kind of friends before she came around and told him I followed him home everyday in hopes that he would play house with me?"

"God, Sakura, I know! But you need to let that go! She's changed, I promise…" Ino pursed her lips and contemplated continuing. " She says she wants to talk"

Sakura chuckled sarcastically. "Well that's not going to happen. I can promise YOU that much."

"Come on, please? She has expressed nothing but remorse for treating you the way she did." She stared into her friend's eyes, batting her lashes sweetly. "_Please? _I'll stop badgering you about switching partners with me if you do."

Scoffing Sakura begrudgingly nodded, "Fine, if it'll make you stop bugging me about Sasuke. Besides, maybe you'll get him for our next project," she paused, "If you're lucky!"

Ino beamed, "Okay! Later? After classes are out today come meet us by the sophomore bathrooms."

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**…**

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Ami's purple hair swished from side to side as she approached Sakura, behind her was a girl with unruly curls the color of old spinach, and Ino. Sakura looked around, sensing something fishy. She reached forward once they got close enough and pulled Ino into the bathrooms, shooting Ami a glare as she disappeared behind the door. "Ino, was there a reason we had to do this _after_ classes were let out? I feel like she's going to try and murder us or something."

Ino made a face and looked to her shoes. Confused by her quiet behavior Sakura pushed her friend lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? I mean… You wouldn't tell me to come here so they could mess with me."

Blue eyes glanced towards her friend before focusing on the ground. Sakura took a step back, "Ino? You wouldn't."

The blonde audibly sighed and looked up, any trace of remorse gone from her face. "Look- Sakura, there are really no words for why what's about to happen except for…Stay away from what's mine?"

"Ino, what in the world are you talking about? Are you crazy? Did you hit your head this morning? I'm you're best friend you can't just turn your back on me all of a sudden!"

Ino pursed her lips in a pout and stepped forward. "No, I didn't hit my head this morning. I missed class and you stole my partner from me. You stole Sasuke from me."

Sakura shook her head in disbelief and pushed on the door before rushing into the hallway only to run into Ami's friend. "Move!"

The green haired girl scoffed and grabbed onto Sakura's arms, pushing her in Ami's direction.

"You just couldn't leave me alone could you? You're pathetic, bullying people for no good reason-" Ami slapped her harshly. Laughing, she spoke,

"Oh poor little forehead girl, you think I wasted my time thinking about _you_ of all people? That's hilarious!" She crossed her arms. "You might want to look to your psycho friend in the bathroom! She called me a while ago and I didn't think anything of it. Then she called me again after you got sat next to Sasuke in one of your classes, she seems to think you planned all of this out. Honestly I wouldn't care much but Konoha's pretty nice and since her dad's a higher up in the school board and all she convinced him I was one of her very best friends and he gave me a discount off of my tuition. So I get to beat you up and get a third of my tuition shaved off. Bad luck that Sasuke and you got paired up today because now Ino has something special planned. "

"Ami, please, let me go! I didn't do anything to her. Why would I purposefully hurt my friend? Feelings for Sasuke or not I don't play an unfair game!"

Ami shook her head, "Look Forehead, I don't really give a crap if you want Sasuke or not, now that I see what else Konoha Academy has to offer I have my sights set on his brother. Unfortunately for you, I owe Ino and I always pay my debts." With that she reared her arm back and punched Sakura dead in the eye.

The pink haired girl screamed as she was thrown to the ground by Ino who had just emerged from the restroom. She scrambled onto her feet only to be shoved onto the tile again; twisting her head around tears gathered in her eyes, "Ino, Ino you're my friend! You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, please listen to me!"

The blonde merely smiled before kicking Sakura in her side and stepping on her back to keep her flat on the ground. "Maki, come on, help me keep the cow down!"

Sakura heard the heels on the floor before she felt them dig into her skin through her shirt. She maneuvered her head to stare down the girl with the green hair.

"M-Maki? You, I saw you in my English class! I know I did! Please, please tell her. Tell her I don't even talk to Sasuke in there, that there is nothing going on between us. It was just pure chance that he was assigned as my par-UGH!" Sakura's chin hit the tile with a bang and she coughed when she felt blood start to fill her mouth.

"I've only been there for a day, you might have propositioned Jiraya-sensei earlier to make Sasuke your partner. I can't tell her anything for sure." The girl pressed down harder on Sakura's back.

"Ami! Get the scissors," Ino ordered. "Let me tell you something you might not know about Sasuke-kun, Sakura." Ami appeared in front of the girl and got on her knees, a large pair of scissors in hand.

Sakura couldn't tell if it was her tear blurred vision or if she was imagining it, but there seemed to be a hint of remorse on Ami's face.

"Sasuke _hates_ girls with short hair, he thinks they look like little boys. Ami, start cutting it off even make her bald if you can!"

Ami grinned sadistically and gripped a long bundle of it. She pulled hard, making Sakura yelp loudly. Her long locks were entangled in Ami's hand as Ami began chopping away.

"INO!" Sakura cried, struggling to buck the girls off of her back, "Ino! Stop it! Please! Please, stop it!" She screamed.

Ino growled and lifted her foot off of Sakura only to stomp down, putting all of her weight into it. The girl let out a silent scream as a searing pain shot through her abdomen. "This is what you get forehead!" Ino whispered vengefully.

Sakura whimpered as her hair was being yanked on hardly and then falling to the ground merely seconds later. It hurt her to breath in, feeling like she was being stabbed every her diaphragm contracted. She eventually stopped trying, there was no use; blood filled her mouth and she no longer cared to periodically spit it out so she left her mouth open and it pooled under her head which was beginning to feel airy.

As her eyes started to roll back into her head she heard Ami trying to leave the scene, "Guys, I think I heard something, we've got to go!" She threw the scissors to the ground but someone took the purple haired girl's place and slapped Sakura to bring her back into consciousness.

"Stupid little Sakura, just in case Sasuke changes his mind, how about we give him something else to find repulsing about you?" Blonde hair came into view and tickled Sakura's face as Ino reached for the scissors and gripped onto one blade to slice the other down one of her cheeks.

All extra weight was gone from Sakura's back as she gasped and let out an ear-piercing scream at the deepness of the cut. Suddenly she heard something coming towards her and dropping onto the ground. Next thing she knew she was being turned onto her side and what was once her hair was now being swept off her face. She spat out the blood from when her face was slammed into the ground winced when her tongue found the spot where a tooth once was.

Cool hands gripped onto her chin and pulled her head into a lap. Eventually Sakura heard the familiar chirping of a cell phone. Her vision began to black out as a female's voice shouted something about an ambulance.

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**Again, sorry this chapter was late. **

**I decided to make this a bit more in depth than the last to adaptations. Interactions with at least 3 main male characters will be in the next chapter. **

**Please point out any typos, I hurried to get this out after I realized it had been days since I said this would be posted!**


	2. A Mission

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Thank you very much for the reviews, alerts, and favorites!**

**Please enjoy chapter two (a take on chapters two and three from the original and first rewrite, along with some new stuff) of Changes.**

**Warning(s): Foul language**

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**Changes**

Sakura vaguely remembered waking up on the way to the hospital after Ino, Ami, and Maki attacked her. The girl who found her in the hallway was named Konan, and she'd almost left before Sakura found it out but she woke fully in the nick of time. The older girl had just risen from her seat next to Sakura's hospital bed. She remembers her stepmother, Yui, telling the girl that she was moving, before placing a cold hand over her own with some semblance of relief on her face.

"Mother?" Sakura groaned, hand shooting up to her chin due to the feeling she experienced while talking. She put the slightest pressure on the side of it and whimpered as the searing pain worsened.

"_It's okay Sakura, you're at the hospital." Yui outstretched her hand, beckoning Konan to come towards the girl in the bed. "Someone attacked you and this nice young woman found you and called the ambulance. Unfortunately the staff were all at a meeting in the teacher conference room or else they might have been able to stop the bastards that did this to you." _

_Sakura was very confused by her stepmother's behavior but she was glad that in her condition the woman was being warm for once. She ignored the jolt she knew was coming in order to ask questions, "How long have I been here? What is wrong with me?" Her breath caught in her throat at the thought, "Did anyone see who did it?"_

_The redhead frowned, "It's only seven in the evening. As far as your condition goes, your spine is bruised and you have a broken rib, which happened to puncture a lung. Obviously I'm sure you can feel the other superficial wounds on your face as well…" She let go of her daughter's hand and took a small legal pad that was sitting near Sakura's feet. "Now I know it hurts for you to talk so if you have even the slightest idea of who did this to you, I want you to write their names down." Yui pulled a pen from her suit pocket and placed it in the girl's grip. _

_Of course Sakura contemplated telling her stepmother who had hurt her but her stepmother already didn't like Ino when she knew the two were friends, she could only imagine what would happen if she found out that Ino was the one to orchestrate her beating. Yes, Sakura understood that Ino and she definitely were no longer friends but it's not like she could just make her feelings go away automatically. She looked to Yui and shook her head, making sure that it read clear on her face that she wasn't going to divulge any information._

"_You don't know who did it? Are you sure?"_

'_That's not what I meant,' Sakura thought. "Yes."_

_Yui sighed and frowned, "I have a feeling you aren't telling me the truth." She turned her gaze to Konan who was standing silently in front of the door, "And you didn't see anyone either?"_

"_No."_

_Sakura's eyes flicked to Konan, "What's your name?" She was one of the most beautiful girls Sakura had ever seen with a perfect peach complexion, twilight blue hair, and light gray eyes; all of her features complimented each other. _

"_Konan." She let off a calm and collected, albeit sad vibe that Sakura at one point wanted in order to attract Sasuke. Within ten minutes of seeing the girl Sakura already wanted to be her. _

"_Thank you," if she had to think about it, Konan calling the ambulance for her was probably the nicest thing someone had done for her since Ino stopped Ami from making fun of her every chance she got when they were young children. "Thank you so much." Sakura didn't mean to start crying but it happened and she couldn't hold back her tears, her body was shaking._

_Konan's face contorted, "It's no big deal, any body would have done it…Well except for the people that did this to you." She stopped talking when her phone dinged. With her face lit up by the artificial light Sakura thought she looked even prettier. The blue haired girl shoved her phone back in her pocket. "Look I have to go, I'm sorry."_

_Sakura ignored the pain in her chin to call out after her when Konan started to walk out of the room. "Konan, if I see you in school can I talk to you?"_

_Konan turned to eye the girl, "You don't have to ask to talk to someone, you just approach the person and then talk to them." And she left. _

"Sakura, are you okay? Is it your head again?" The girl's head flung away from her hand, where it had been perched for a while.

"What? No, my head's fine. I just zoned out for a second." Sakura took in her surroundings; they were still outside, sitting under a small cherry blossom tree in the courtyard of Konoha Academy. Her lunch was to her left and Konan was to her right, discarded apple core a few feet away from the senior's black leather bag.

"Zoned out? What do you mean? I was talking to you and you shouted and grabbed your head for a few seconds. You caused a scene." Konan raised one of her delicately shaped brows.

The younger girl noticed the majority of the students at lunch were watching her every move and had been for quite some time. She shrugged, "Maybe they're looking at you, you're supposed to have lunch with the upperclassmen. They've probably never seen you."

"I doubt it. Maybe they found out that you were escorted away in an ambulance ten days ago?"

"Fair enough, they _could_ be looking at the gigantic bandage on half of my face."

"Or your hair? It's pretty pink."

"If they're looking at my hair that's because it's a good thirty inches shorter than what it was."

"Hm, that might be it."

Green eyes focused on Konan's face, "Have you ever gone through any major physical makeover…or make-under?" _'Because what is going on with me is definitely not an improvement.'_

"I've looked the same since I can remember, along with everyone else I know."

"Well not me, now you can say you've _at least_ met someone who went through an extreme makeover."

"Why would that be something I would want to say aloud exactly?" Sakura tried to see any kind of emotion on Konan's face, because out of the three days she'd spent getting to know the older girl she had seen none.

"I have absolutely no idea." She became immersed in her thoughts again, "Konan? Do you…Do you think you can walk me to my next class?"

"You're afraid to go by yourself?"

"No!" '_For not showing any emotions, Konan sure knows how to read them on other people.'_ "I just thought we would have more time to talk with each other if we walked together?"

"For whatever reason it is, I would but I can not. I have a meeting."

"The upperclassmen have a meeting today?" Sakura asked as Konan gathered her belongings and stood from the grass.

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly…oh! You're skipping?"

Konan chuckled lightly, "I take it you've never skipped?"

"Of course I have!" _'I wouldn't rat on my old best friend when she beat the crap out of me, that's how much of a goodie-two-shoes I am. Of course I haven't.'_

"You may accompany me next time if you wish. Next Tuesday is my next meeting."

'_Still going with the meeting disguise, huh?'_ "Okay! That sounds good..."

"You sound nervous, if you are truly afraid of someone or something I can be late for my meeting. I assure you now that no harm will come your way."

"Thanks, but I'll be alright as long as no one accidentally elbows me in the ribs."

"If you say so, goodbye then."

"Bye Konan." She felt uneasy about the girl leaving her side as she had been with her at all times while she had been back at school.

Today had been her first day back and even then she came in late as to avoid seeing Maki in her English class. The idea of seeing someone who didn't have a real reason for participating in her ambush really frightened her more than seeing Ami or Ino. Ino had obviously gone crazy at some point during their friendship and money was a good enough motive for Ami. Besides Maki, Sakura had also foregone English because of Sasuke. She was supposed to be his partner for their British Romanticism paper and Jiraya had a Zero Tolerance rule for late work. No doubt that Sasuke had written the paper by himself and turned it in, Sakura was just reluctant to hear the harsh words he would have to offer her. They would probably be along the lines of, _"You're annoying and stupid. You can't coast by in school while spending more time on your looks than your class work._" Did she mention that while waiting in the lunch line she over heard some horribly untrue rumor that she had been gone the past ten days because she was relaxing at a spa? '_Yeah,'_ she remembers thinking, _'just sat down by the pool all day torturing myself by watching everyone and their mothers having fun in the sun while I waited for my broken rib, punctured lung, busted chin, horrendous facial scar and black eye to heal.'_ Then she remembers the wink she envisioned giving the asshole that said it while walking away, after throwing Konan's apple square in his face.

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**…**

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Konan was one hundred percent against leaving Sakura by herself while at school after she divulged the identities of her attackers but she had jobs that needed to be done. She hummed in annoyance as the car she had been waiting on took its sweet time finding a parking spot in the nearly empty teacher's parking lot. _'They had to go green just to make Zetsu happy, didn't they?'_ She thought, damning the botany teacher who also doubled as the current driver of the car coming her way. It emitted a strange gas that smelled like fried vegetables. _'Fuck car pooling, this is taking them too long.' _

The slamming of car doors drew her from her inner complaint department, "You're late!" She called out over the yelling as five men escaped from the small vehicle.

"Fucking Deidara here had to stop and get some stupid fucking hair product that smells like a bunch of dicks pissed in a bottle! That and Zetsu took his sweet time luring his lunch into his car before he came and got us." A guy with slicked back silver hair shouted while pulling on the front of his black blazer to get rid of wrinkles. "He is worse than a fucking chick when it comes to that pile of hay he calls hair." He turned to a younger guy with long blonde hair and fringe covering one eye. "Seriously, you pussy, get your shit straight! Cut that shit off before I do it for you."

"I wasn't luring anyone, I was avoiding getting you little fuck ups." A deep voice said. "When I took a vacation from teaching here, I meant to request a vacation from the organization as well." He continued while leaning against his small car.

Deidara cut off Hidan's comeback, "You're just pissed that my locks are silky smooth while your hair is as slimy as you are!" He ran his fingers through his hair to emphasize his point. Normally he would have just blown it off but Deidara was an artist and his hair was one of his greatest pieces.

"I do not care one bit about your personal styles or how you choose perceive each other, if you would kindly stop wasting my time I would greatly appreciate it." Konan muttered stoically. They were both younger than her and were like stupid kid brothers to her that never ceased their bickering and lived to annoy the hell out of her. The exception was that she didn't love them despite it all. She was their second in command and yet she never got the respect she deserved when Pain wasn't around.

"What the hell is wrong with you, bitch? Sad you got roped into doing another mission at a high school when you're nearing your midlife crisis age? Hidan exaggerated. He proceeded in plucking a cigarette from his lavender pocket square and holding it between his lips as he searched for a lighter.

"Tobi doesn't think it's very nice to call Konan a bitch, Tobi doesn't think Pain-sama would like that very much."

"Hidan doesn't give a flying fuck what Tobi thinks because Tobi is a man child that doesn't know when to stay quiet." The teen took his empty cigarette carton, set it ablaze, and threw it at the guy in orange.

Tobi proceeded to screech and stomp on the small object that quickly grew after being kicked into a small puddle of oil. After a few minutes Konan eventually withdrew a bottle of water from her bag and poured the remaining contents on it.

"Are you done now?" she asked. The males shrugged, except for the driver and the one who came out of the passenger's seat. Those two stood quiet and silently, observing their surroundings for outsiders who might approach them.

"Anyways, Pain has a job for us to do, it involves a student here." She took her phone from her purse and showed them a picture she had taken for Sakura's contact ID. "We are to recruit this girl for the Akatsuki within three weeks and when that happens we are to train her until she is at least up to par with Deidara. He said he'll deal with her from then on."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean, yeah?" The blonde seemed terribly offended by what her statement implied. "Don't you mean at least up to par with _Tobi_?"

"No, Deidara, I'm implying that she has to be at least up to your skill set according to Pain."

Deidara scoffed but let the blue haired girl continue. "Now obviously some of you haven't been to high school in quite sometime," she shot Hidan a look. "Or at all due to criminal backgrounds. Luckily however, Konoha is currently in a rut and needs money. It's said that they've been overlooking a lot of things in order to get more students with wealthy parents on their side."

"For fuck's sake, I'm not going back to school. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm nineteen-"

"Nine_teen_, you're still a teenager, so get over it. Unless you're telling me you don't mind disappointing our leader."

"I don't give a shit what Pain has to say about this. I'll kill the bastard if it makes this mission go away. It ain't gonna happen." Hidan growled, putting his cigarette out against a shiny new car. "Besides if this is a group thing where is Sasori? Kakuzu? Or hell, what about Kisame? I haven't seen that asshole in a good amount of time."

Tobi raised his hand from behind Deidara and Konan nodded to him, "Uh, Tobi thinks Kakuzu looks like he could be someone's grandfather so Tobi would like to say that's why he thinks Kakuzu is not at this meeting. Tobi is done now." He shyly put his hand back down at his side and hid from Hidan's irritated gaze.

"That's precisely the reason. As for Sasori, he has a class to teach and Kisame is coming back from his solo mission next week to become a janitor here. Now Deidara, you will be posing as a college student who needs observation hours to become an art teacher. You'll be working with Sasori to help manage his classes. As for you, Tobi, and you, Hidan…Even though Kakuzu fought tooth and nail after he seen the cost of tuition to have me enrolled- we have come up with the funds to have you two enrolled as well. Hidan! Pain warns that if some innocent bystander turns up dead like last time, you're next. We can't fuck up with kids involved, it would ruin our credibility."

"Oh, you know I'm like a cat: I have eight lives. Tell him to try his best, bitch."

"Mm, that stupidity and rude behavior is exactly why we made sure you were enrolled in classes with troubled teens needing remedial help. I hope you like learning primary school mathematics and language skills." Konan smirked and addressed Itachi and Zetsu.

"Zetsu just…don't poison her if you happen to come into contact with each other. Uchiha, as you might have known, one of your brother's teachers died last month so you'll be taking over his position. He said to sort that out yourself, that your family name should guarantee you the job."

"When is he going to come back?" Zetsu asked, followed by: "He's been gone for months, he's really slacking off." He then shook his head and stared at the ground.

"He's back."

"He's back?" Hidan looked angry. "Why the hell isn't he here then?"

"He's busy with our new benefactor."

"Well shit, if Hidan and Tobi didn't start asking so many questions maybe I could have gotten mine in, yeah?" Deidara whined. "What the hell does some sleaze ball want with a teenaged girl anyways?"

"That much Pain hasn't told me yet."

"Ooh, well look here, little miss know it all is being kept in the dark by her lover."

Konan promptly slapped Hidan across the face before dismissing their meeting.

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**Let's assume Konan is around 21-23, Hidan is of course 19, Deidara is about 20, Tobi is about 24, Itachi shall be 22, Zetsu...28? Sasori will be around 24-25, Kisame will be 27 and Pain will be 25. Kakuzu will be the badass Greedy Grandpa Gangster at 91 like in the manga . **

**If you liked it or have questions please tell me in a review! Also point out any typos as I am sure there are some. **


	3. A Meeting

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Thank you very much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! They mean a lot to me. **

**Short summary of this chapter :Sakura meets some of the Akatsuki.**

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**Changes**

_Dear Diary, _

_Yui gave you to me as one of her usual you're-going-to-be-upset gifts. This time however, I'm not quite sure what's going on. The first time it was an "I'm marrying your father, please act like you like me," porcelain doll. Other gifts included an "I'm thinking about having your father's child" playroom to "share with our bundle of joy" and, a "we have to relocate for three months because of my job" laptop, also a "Your father and I are getting a divorce just when we started to bond" locket with a picture of her and I from the Christmas before. Oh! And let's not forget by far the worst, my own "your father died and named me your caretaker in his will" bedroom in our new house._

_You're made out of cherry red leather with a gold lock and key and you could probably feed all the homeless people in town for a day or two. I wonder if you're in my possession because of what Ino did to me. Perhaps you are a Sakura's-upset-I-don't-know-how-to-fix-it gift. Or maybe she wants to get remarried…She has been away quite a lot these days. She might be cozying up…_

_I don't think I really care either way; I don't plan on writing in you after this. Unless my life abruptly improves in all aspects,_

_Sakura._

Sakura sighed and shoved her diary back under her mattress before standing on her feet and fixing the pleats on her skirt. She made sure to stop by her closet and shove some more comfortable clothes inside of her backpack before heading down stairs to see her mother.

"Good morning Mother." Sakura mumbled out.

The woman nodded at Sakura as a sign of acknowledgement and abandoned her cup of tea to circle the teen. The pink haired girl was used to these daily appearance inspections. Yui smoothed out any wrinkles in the uniform as she went around and then buttoned a loose button, after the fact she was back to face Sakura. "A little on the sloppy side today, are you not?" she inquired.

"_I'm sorry_, my vision is still a little blurry after I had my head slammed into the ground on multiple occasions just a little over a week ago." Sakura snapped back.

"Well I hope you don't take that attitude with you to dinner tonight."

"Dinner? Oh, we're actually having dinner together? That's shocking." Her sarcasm was apparent.

"If you would like to keep this act up I will gladly tell Uchiha to have his wife set one less place at their table."

Sakura nearly dropped her bag, "Uchiha?"

"Fugaku and Mikoto, along with their two sons." Yui moved back to Sakura's front and tried to sound pleasant. "While it is a business dinner, when I brought up that Sasuke and you attended school together, Fugaku's wife jumped up with the idea…she asked me to invite you."

"Are you sure you didn't mess something up again and are trying to make up for it? A diary _and_ dinner with Sasuke, that seems too good to be true." Sakura told Yui back when they were closer about her adoration for the younger Uchiha brother. While Yui thought Itachi would be more appropriate as he was the true heir, Yui had encouraged their being together ever since Sakura divulged the information. She approved to the point of buying her things that she assumed would make her stepdaughter more attractive to the boy.

Yui scowled and pushed on Sakura's shoulder. "No! I could just tell them about the incident you were in and say that you needed to rest if you would like to continue being a smart aleck–"

"Okay well then… I lied and I'm one hundred percent fine. I just had a hard time falling asleep last night. I'll go and I'll be on my best behavior, I swear."

"And you'll wear a dress."

"Mother, I'm bruised everywhere!"

"As if I would let them know that. Although it would seem very charitable if I had adopted a lowly orphan."

The teenager frowned at her stepmother's poor excuse of a joke, "I have to leave for school now, but please find me something flattering. Matronly if you have to, as long as it doesn't look like I got my ass kicked. Seeming like a prude would be better than seeming like a complete wimp." She caught sight of a clock, "Anyways, goodbye."

The woman was already back to sitting in her seat at the island, her ocean blue eyes glazed over while looking at a stack of papers. Sakura shook her head and went out the kitchen door because there was no doubt that if she went out the front door her mother would spend a good amount of time paranoid that somebody else was in the house.

* * *

**…**

* * *

Upon her arrival to Konoha Academy she didn't expect to see Konan waving her over from a wooden bench under a cherry blossom tree. "Hey Konan!" While Sakura was surprised that Konan picked her out from the crowd of students trying to maneuver around in the morning buzz, she was happy. Heaven forbid she caught the eye of Ino, Ami, or Maki of whom she didn't see the day before, having feigned illness in order to avoid attending her afternoon classes.

"Sakura." Konan acknowledged simply. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, I would love to sit and talk but I have to change before classes begin. Will I see you at lunch today?"

"If that's what you want." The older girl followed with, "why do you have to change?"

Sakura scoffed and motioned to her clothing. "You've met my mother. She's all about how the public perceives her, and I'm considered an extension of her regardless of the fact that there's no blood relation." She gazed at Konan's navy skirt and black turtleneck sleeveless shirt. "Next to you I look like a little school kid and I'm sixteen! That is not how I want to be looked at."

"Mm, not for much longer though, correct?"

"What?" Sakura tilted her head to the side in wonder.

"You mentioned that your birthday is on the twenty-eighth, did you not?"

'_No, actually I didn't. How did you find that out?'_ "What's today's date?"

"The tenth…Are you sure your head's okay after what happened? It's not like someone to forget their own birthday is coming up."

Sakura stood confused for a few seconds before frowning, "Yeah, I've just been a little unfocused is all. Um, I'll see you at lunch then." She offered a small grin and began walking towards the nearest bathrooms until someone caught her eye. _'Oh no, I keep forgetting about our English project!'_ "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out. She picked up her pace but slowed down once she was next to him.

"Sakura." She could have been imagining things but Sakura was pretty sure he sounded annoyed. _'In that case I'm probably not imagining anything.'_

"Oh my goodness, Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long. I know Jiraya-sensei has a zero tolerance policy but I was in the hospital for some time and I didn't know how to get a hold of you-"

"I turned it in."

"Y-You turned it in? The whole project?" Sakura felt terrible, it was supposed to be a five thousand-word report on British Romanticism, and clearly Sasuke wasn't one to enjoy _British Romanticism._

"No, I turned in the outline for our paper. He gave us an extension on the report itself."

"That's terrific! I mean, that is great but what about the zero tolerance policy?"

"Jiraya has a zero tolerance policy for stupidity, not for being nearly beat to death."

Sakura stopped walking and Sasuke stopped two steps ahead of her, turning towards her with an undecipherable look on his face. "You knew?" She whispered.

Sasuke gave a curt nod, "Ino came crying to me about it, I assume she was looking to get sympathy because her friend was hurt. However, I told her that you should learn to take care of yourself."

The girls shied away from him, "I-It's not like I was expecting to get jumped after school was over…"

"No one would expect it, but most would be prepared. Honestly I don't care much either way. Whether you were beat up or not, or even if you contribute to this project."

Sakura ignored the unpleasant portion of what the boy said. "I will contribute! I couldn't ask for you to do my share of work again when you did the whole outline... Maybe we could work on it later this week? You could fill me in on the specifics of the outline."

"We will set a date- a time- to work on the paper after class today." Sasuke made sure to redefine his words as to not lead her on. He wasn't oblivious to her affections but he just didn't want them.

The girl stared at his back as he walked away from her and towards one of his friends, Naruto Uzumaki. She couldn't believe what he had just said. She was not expecting any sympathy from him but the fact that he didn't care _at all_ hit her hard. She sighed dejectedly and went to go change.

Upon reaching the bathrooms, Sakura quickly locked herself into a stall and got rid of the constricting uniform Yui laid out for her. She shimmied her way into a tight pair of black pants and slipped on a crimson short sleeve shirt that was decorated with white polka dots. She changed out of her obnoxious brown leather penny loafers and put on black sandals, wiggling her toes once they escaped the confines of her socks. Looking in a compact mirror she made sure the cover up on her scar wasn't too noticeable and that there wasn't a hair out of place in her bob. Then, she hurried in stuffing her uniform into her bag and ran to her English class. She took a couple deep breaths before opening the door and smiling in relief when she noticed Maki was not in the room yet- nor was Ino. Sakura doubted the blonde would be there today and if she were, Sakura wouldn't hold her breath. She knew Ino to be smart enough to not cause a scene in front of a large group of people. _'As for Maki… let's hope the Troll has at least an ounce of sympathy in her,_' she thought to herself as she took a seat in the back of the room. Normally she would be a few seats down from Sasuke but she wasn't dumb enough to do that anymore. _'I can still pursue him as long as Ino Pig doesn't find out about it.'_

Class flew by quickly for Sakura, as Ino and Maki weren't present at all during the hour and a half lecture Jiraya gave on British literature in the 18th century. She spent her time either enthralled with the back of Sasuke's head, the class door; or glancing at Jiraya every so often so it appeared as if she was paying attention to him. When the bell rung she took her time gathering her stuff before following Sasuke out the door and down the to the cafeteria. She lifted a shaky hand once close enough and tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Sasuke-kun, I thought we were supposed to take some time to set up a da…a…a time to work on the paper."

"Hn." He shrugged. "You were taking too long. I knew you would find me anyways."

"Oh, well when do you want to work on the paper? Do you think we could work on it tonight?" _'In your bedroom preferably after dinner, but even anywhere in or near the vicinity of your house would be glorious.' _The thoughts almost slipped out of her mouth but she stopped herself when she noticed Ino out of the corner of her eye. The blonde was openly glaring in her direction, knuckles white while she gripped her bottle of water. Her detest was incredibly apparent, Sakura could almost feel knives puncturing her skin.

"I'm busy. We'll work on it at the school library on Saturday." He didn't give her a second glance as he left to find his friends. The girl frowned, _'He must not know it's my mother and I coming for dinner._' She was tempted to run after him and tell him but she realized she'd rather it be a surprise. That and she didn't know if he just didn't know or if he wasn't supposed to know.

Sakura sighed and made her way to the lunch line. Luckily the line had dwindled down and Ino had seemingly disappeared. She picked up the last apple out from a basket and walked further ahead in line only to feel the apple get snatched from her grasp. Irritated, she turned around and froze.

"That's my apple, Forehead." Ino spoke, but Sakura heard what Ino really meant, _"I see you're trying to take something else of mine._"

The pink haired teen opened her mouth to say something but someone interrupted her. "Yamanaka, sorry to ask but uh, do you think I could have that apple?" Sakura spun around to see her art teacher staring at the two of them.

Ino beamed a fake smile. "Sure, no problem. Here you go Akasuna-sensei." She presented the redhead the apple for his taking.

The man nodded his thanks and cut in front of Sakura, leaving her and the blonde still facing one another.

"I was lying. I didn't want the dumb piece of fruit, I just wanted for you not to have it," Ino whispered, leaning in closer to Sakura. "You're looking a little on the chubby side today. I guess the hospital food isn't as healthy as the nurses tell you it is."

The shorter of the two stood silently, her body beginning to shake without her knowledge.

"Here you go," Sasori said, putting the apple into Sakura's hand. The contact took Sakura out her daze and the teacher motioned for her to step away from the line. She peered over shoulder to see Ino positively outraged. "You don't have to pay me back. She's a pig, I saw her take almost half the basket when I was monitoring earlier."

Sakura gave her full attention to Sasori and opened and closed her mouth a few times before she correctly formed words. "Wait, what? Why did you do that?"

The man put his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. "As I said, Yamanaka is a pig. In every sense." Then he gave her a small wave and left the cafeteria. Not looking forward to being on the receiving end of Ino's wrath once more for something she didn't do, Sakura traveled outside to the cherry blossom tree she and Konan had sat under the day before. It took a few minutes for the blue haired senior to come outside but when she did Sakura was puzzled. Konan didn't sit down next to her; instead she stayed standing and offered a hand.

"Sakura," Konan said apprehensively. "Do you want to take a walk?"

Figuring she could eat her apple on the way, she grabbed Konan's hand and allowed herself to be helped up. "Where are we going to go?"

"Just around."

Sakura felt as if something suspicious was about to happen and she took her phone out and gripped it in her hand just in case. Trying to act as if she wasn't nervous, the teen decided to create small talk. "Something weird happened today."

"What?" Konan humored the girl, easily seeing through her.

"I saw Ino inside the cafeteria and she took this apple right out of my hand. Out of nowhere Akasuna-sensei took it back from her, saying he wanted it but then he gave it to me. He said he just didn't want her to have it."

Konan chuckled lightly, thinking to herself that Pain must have gotten a hold of Sasori and told him to be on his best behavior. "What did she have to say?"

Sakura scowled. "She told me I looked fat. I don't know what she's playing at. First she skips English," Sakura bit into her apple, _'Probably to avoid seeing me. Jiraya seemed serious when he told me to tell Ino to get her ass back in his class before he reported her absences straight to her father.'_ "And then she decided to stalk me during lunch because she saw me speaking to Sasuke about our project!"

"I suppose nearly killing you wasn't enough for her. I'd be careful if I were you."

"I really hope that isn't her end goal." Sakura was too absorbed in the sourness of her apple and Ino's earlier actions that she did not notice they had stopped walking and were now in the staff parking lot. Reaching the core of her apple, she spat out a seed and finally observed her surroundings. "How come we stopped here?"

Konan attempted to think of what to say that wouldn't make the girl run but nothing came to mind. Instead she chose to stay silent and wait. Eventually she heard a car approaching and she grabbed onto Sakura's arm and took a few steps back, just in time to avoid the vehicle that pulled up halfway on the sidewalk. The smell of burning rubber assaulted the girls' noses and they both started coughing violently. Growling Konan banged on the hood of the car, "Are you fucking kidding me? Almost running us over is the complete opposite of the plan you imbeciles!"

"Konan what in the world is going on?" Sakura shouted over the loud yelling and music coming from inside the car. She brought her phone up to her ear, finger over the speed dial button for the cops.

Konan quickly put her attention back on the young girl, she held her hands up in defense, "Nothing, nothing is going on. It's fine; you don't have to call anyone. They're just my friends. The people I go to meetings with-" She motioned to a silver haired guy getting out of the car. "Except for him, he is not my friend."

Sakura lowered her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. She was incredibly skeptical but some stupid voice in her head was telling her to stop being a scared little baby because that didn't get her put into a good place last time. "Right, your friends…well, would you mind introducing us?"

The blue haired woman was at a lost for words but when she seen Tobi open his mouth out of the corner of her eye, she came to her senses. "Okay, um this is Hidan," he was the one with silver hair and a mischievous glint in his lavender eyes. "That is Tobi and this is Deidara." Tobi was the short childish looking one dressed in orange and Deidara was the one that looked super feminine. _'He could be Ino's older brother if I didn't know any better.'_

"So you're the charge, that picture didn't do you any justice." Hidan blurted out only to have Konan slap him on the arm. "What the fuck? Are you on your period or something you crazy bitch- ow! What are you doing that for- for fuck's sake, quit it before I bash your head in!" Hidan jumped away from the second-in-command and stood behind Sakura. "You wouldn't risk hitting her, would you? Pain would have your head." Hidan placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and he laughed when she tensed. Deciding to aggravate Konan some more, he started running his hands down her arms and back up.

"Hidan, get your filthy paws off of her!" Konan was becoming red in the face and while Sakura was truly disturbed by the audacity of this _Hidan_ guy, she was far too intrigued by her friend's sudden display of emotions.

"Tobi thinks Hidan should move as well because Tobi knows if Hidan messes up it will be like the whole team messed up in Pain-sama's eyes." The man_boy_ said lowly, as if he didn't really want Hidan to hear him. "Tobi also knows that Sakura-chan is Konan's friend not just our charge and that Konan will kill you if you hurt her."

"I agree with the dumb-ass this time, yeah." The blonde butted in, "You're crazy if you think I'm getting my ass handed to me because you wanted to be a freak." He placed his arm over Sakura's shoulders and elbowed Hidan away from her. "Don't worry Pinky, he's not your average dickhead- honestly, he's a certified sociopath- but if Pain has anything to say about it he won't harm a hair on your head."

Overwhelmed, Sakura managed a question. "Who is Pain?"

"Tobi thinks we shouldn't talk about Pain-sama in front of Sakura-chan. Sorry Sakura-chan."

Konan, having calmed down and returned to her normal skin tone, elaborated. "Pain is a friend of mine, he doesn't go here but Hidan and Tobi do. Their old school got blown up," She mentally kicked her own ass. There were a million better lies than that, lies that _couldn't_ be proven wrong. "Deidara is going to be a teacher's aide."

"That's horrible." Sakura removed herself from under Deidara's arm. "What happened?" She looked to the blonde for an answer.

He chuckled sheepishly, "I wanted to finish my senior year with a bang, then I was put in jail for a few months but they had no real proof so I was released."

Sakura blinked owlishly and returned to Konan's side, whispering in her ear. "Konan, are you positive these guys are your friends? They don't seem like the type of people you would want to spend time with."

Konan sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Just the sight of these idiots gave her a headache. She then shook her head, "Trust me, I know."

* * *

**…**

* * *

**Sorry this wasn't out a bit sooner. I know Sakura is much different from her other counterparts but I have this theory that she was only kind to a few people, people that Ino was kind to, and that other than those few everyone else pretty much ignored her because they didn't like Ino. **

**Also, I know she didn't meet Itachi yet but that will be in the next chapter along with the awkward Uchiha dinner. Pain, Kisame, and Zetsu will meet her within the next chapter or two. **

**Just imagine, _the Uchiha brood and friends are just about to sit down at dinner when the doorman comes over and says Itachi has a visitor. Suddenly Pain enters, covered in dirt and blood and says Itachi needs to come with him. Fugaku is angry, Mikoto is worried, Sasuke is annoyed and the Haruno women are intrigued. _**

**...I'm not giving any confirmation that the above will be in the next chapter. **

**Please review! Give me suggestions on what Itachi should teach? Reminder that Jiraya teaches English, Zetsu teaches Botany, Sasori teaches Art and Kakashi will be teaching History. Itachi can teach _anything_ else. **


End file.
